Monday, August 24, 2009

Chelsea Zimmerman is a 26-year-old Catholic blogger from Holts Summit, MO. She’s also paralyzed from the chest down – the result of an auto accident when she was a junior in high school. Chelsea provides a tremendous witness in the ongoing clone-and-kill battles in Missouri, declaring she would not accept any cure for her condition that depended on the destruction of human embryos.

A couple days ago, she had a moving post hoping that Christian Rossiter, the 49 year old Australian quadriplegic who recently won the right to starve himself, wouldn’t go through with it.

@GiannaJessen, mentioned in the twitter conversation below, is a Catholic prolife activist and singer who was born alive following a saline abortion in 1977. She also has, and has recovered from, various physical limitations resulting from the abortion attempt. Chelsea’s twitter id is @czParalytic.

What is most heart-breaking about this story, of course, is the fact that this man thinks that his life has little to no value because of his physical limitations. In a statement read by his attorney Rossiter told the court:

@giannajessen: i wonder how long i will be considered valuable? i have already been told to my face (at 14) that i’m “a burden to society”….

@czParalytic: I hear you…I was once told by someone that they would kill themselves if they were in my situation

@giannajessen: people don’t know how beautiful physical weakness can be. within it are eternal lessons that can be learned in no other way.

@czParalytic: “My grace is sufficient for you for power is made perfect in weakness. I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me, for when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinth 12:9-10

The beauty of physical weakness that Gianna mentions is that the awareness of the limits of our human nature is meant to lead us to put all our trust in God who wants us to rely on Him for absolutely everything. When we place our trust in God alone His divine power will shine forth in us, sustaining us in our weakness (St. Josemaria, Friends of God, 194). In other words, Jesus uses our weakness to reveal His glory.